Sunday, November 3, 2013

Issey Miyake Hues of Red Party

Issey Miyake brought out his new fall/winter line Hues of Red, and had a small party on October 25th to celebrate. Our invitation exhorted us to wear red, and -- surprise -- we were more than happy to obey. Here are some of the highlights from the evening.

Hiro and Hana are two sisters launching a line of chocolates infused with exotic flavors. We hope they call us when they need taste testers.

Howie (Howard Walker) is wearing a vintage APOC top. If you look closely, you can see polka dots woven into the fabric, but the real kicker is the series of huge blips along the arms. APOC is the line that's woven by computer, and allows the buyer some freedom to cut the product to taste.

Here, we demonstrate with Randall Sachs that there is a good reason that red and black is such a time-honored, classical color pairing.

We met Mr. Saito (left) two years ago on Fashion's Night Out.

This man does a good job of demonstrating how to wear a red bow tie. No wonder he has a woman on each arm.

Valerie has long been looking for a black shrug for her wardrobe. It's taken on the red hue of the room, but it's a luscious black.

Want! Now!

This woman was wearing one of the skirts from the new line.

Red and yellow are often combined in India, but not so much in the United States, and less so in New York, so hats off to Masayuki Watanabe for his great jacket. The Frank Gehry-designed backdrop is the perfect frame for him.

Whose idea was it to put up these taut red strips to highlight the mannequins? (Those of us old enough to remember might find it has a sort of '50s - '60s feel to it. Remember the lines that shot through the introductions to so many TV shows, accompanied by strident music?)

Our friend Ryo Miyamoto, who is always experimenting with new looks. We're seeing a lot of pants with large patches at the knees which add contrast and highlight dimensionality.

We love the way the collar of this Issey shirt frames Elena Kirioukhina's face.

Our buddy from up north, Shelley, the Forest City Fashionista, joined us at the party to show off her wonderful kimono which she'd just scored that afternoon at the Manhattan Vintage Show.

Journalist David Noh and his partner Edward Bohan, New York Times manager of corporate communications. David had been spinning in a slightly different orbit in our same social solar system but we'd never connected until the recent FIT press event for Queer History of Fashion. We run into each other all the time now, most recently at the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition press conference at the Brooklyn Museum. We finally got to meet his other half.

Victor-John Villanueva and his partner Edward Sunderland made the scene.

Zari Awodein, right, Creative Director at Issey Miyake. Check out the wondrous pattern woven into his jacket. The back has similar openings down either side of the spine.

Tziporah Salamon, Davey Mitchell and a friend posed for a shot.

Just had to show you the image gracing the back of Davey's coat.

Marybeth Welch stopped by the event. Love how the photo captured her subtle red wardrobe accents. Check out the soles of her shoes.

New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham came to the event and took lots of photos -- of us and everyone else. He certainly looks like a man who enjoys his work. Perhaps that's his secret to staying young!

Shelley and Jean appeared today's New York Times in Bill Cunningham's Evening Hours coverage of the Miyake party! Along with Henry Pierre, Louise Doktor and Tziporah Salamon and a lady with red dreads and a terrific gold-toned jacket. Conspicuous by her absence is Valerie, still playing the blushing bridesmaid. To see the full New York Times page, click here.

Here are Louise and Terry Doktor. Her black Miyake coat looked like it was made of air.

This shot gives you more detail for Henry Pierre's colorful outfit. Oh, and yes, he was wearing a dinosaur on his shoulder.

We turned the tables on photographers Alex Lambrechts and David Glackin.

Shelley and Italian photographer Alexo Wandael (right) and friend.

One of the gorgeous Miyake associates wearing a dress from the new line.

Rose Triple-Header: Here are the shots we took of three ladies named Rose:

The first: inimitable photographer Rose Hartman.

The second Rose and her husband drove from Miami and had been enjoying autumn in New York. Her son supplied the wonderful Mizo Shochu cocktails and beverages for the event. (This shot gives you a rear-view of Shelley's hat and kimono.)

Rose Number 3 posed with a young man wearing the most incredible spectacles. The frames looked like they were made of Lego parts. We photographed Rose at the last Miyake event. Shelley and I ran into her the very next day at Amarcord at the Manhattan Vintage Show.

We were greeted at the door by this gorgeous Miyake Associate. How did she manage to stay just as energetic hours later (in high heels) as we left? You can barely see, but she's wearing little pleated Miyake bracelets. We weren't sure if they were staff-only, but they sure were cute.

Keiichiro of 24 Hour Party People is one of our favorite DJs. This shot gives you an idea of the Frank Gehry ceiling installations which dominate the central portion of the store's main floor.

For yet more party photos of the Miyake event, taken by 24 Hour Party People, click here.

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GROWING OLD WITH VERVE
‘Growing old gracefully’ is an outdated concept. We prefer ‘growing old with verve’. This blog documents our efforts to live up to that motto, in photos and essays. We embrace our gray hair, while sharing the playground nicely with our younger siblings. Bette Davis was right when she said 'growing old is not for sissies', but it’s also not one of Dante’s circles of hell. Idiosyncratic Fashionistas explores what’s out there for Women of a Certain Age, comments on what’s not out there, and demonstrates that our overlooked demographic is still fabulous.
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